Sleeves of thermal-protection garments such as coats, jackets, and undergarments generally end at the wrist, leaving the hands and fingers unprotected from cold, requiring gloves or mittens.
Gloves and mittens traditionally have the disadvantages of needing to be carried separately from the coat or jacket, and so frequently are lost. This can be a serious problem for skiers or outdoor users, and a great nuisance for the parents of small children. Also, since gloves and mittens typically cause the wearer to lose dexterity, both children and adults alike are prone to remove the gloves or mittens in order to more easily grasp ski poles, fashion snowballs, etc., thereby adding to the chance that the removed article will be lost. Indeed, fingerless gloves have been developed to address this problem by keeping the hand properly covered while leaving the fingers, or some portion of the fingers, uncovered for better dexterity. But even fingerless gloves can be lost if they are not attached to a coat or garment.
Various disclosures in the past supported the use of such garments designed specifically to be worn in winters. Some examples are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,823,625 B2 issued to Adroit Development, Inc. discloses an upper body heating and cooling apparatus. More particularly, this invention pertains to a garment worn on the body of a person with the garment connected to a thermal unit. The garment has a heat transfer area and a load bearing area, and the heat transfer capabilities of the garment are not affected by the person carrying a load on a portion of the person's body. The connection between the garment and the thermal unit is with fluid connectors that release upon application of a specified tension force.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,453,270 B2 issued to Columbia Sportswear North America, Inc. discloses a fabric or other material used for body gear and other goods having designed performance characteristics, and in particular to methods and apparatuses that utilize a pattern of heat managing/directing elements coupled to a base fabric to manage heat through reflection or conductivity while maintaining the desired properties of the base fabric.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,221 B1 issued to Nicholas Dynes Gracey provides a means by which clothing may be made more effective in its role in assisting temperature regulation by providing increased heat exchange by means of reduced insulation of temperature sensitive sites—reducing insulation of temperature sensitive areas not protected by “fat pads” and/or providing for increased vapor exchange by means of specific ventilation of temperature sensitive areas—allowing flexibility for rapid increases in heat generation owing to facility for improved vapor exchange.
None of the above or any other disclosure known, taken either singly or in combination, are seen to disclose a full sleeve thermal winter apparel for a person.
Further, none of this known art suggests the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured for the efficient solution of this problem as disclosed and claimed herein. Prior devices do not provide the benefits of the present invention which achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and nonobvious combination of component elements, through no increase in the number of functioning parts, at a minimum cost and through the utilization of only readily available materials and conventional components.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved full sleeve thermal winter apparel for a person with concealed gloves and removably attached cap for reducing the chances of losing the gloves and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.